Bond set at $2.5M for man charged in fatal shooting of Bensenville store clerk

Kenneth Bardlett, 20, of Bellwood, is being held on $2.5 million bond on a first-degree murder charge in relation to the slaying of a Bensenville store clerk during an attempted robbery last month. The gunman is still at large. (Photo provided)

Caption

Surveillance video shows a gunman (right) just before he shots a store clerk (left) while another offender looks on Jan. 19 in front of Sam’s Tobacco and Foodmart in Bensenville. (Provided photo)

By SUBURBAN LIFE MEDIA

BENSENVILLE – A 20-year-old Bellwood man accused in the fatal shooting of a Bensenville store clerk last month is being held on $2.5 million bond, while the gunman is still at large, according to media reports.

Kenneth Bardlett, 20, of 49th Avenue, Bellwood, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder for the Jan. 19 slaying of Husein Saghir at Sam’s Tobacco and Foodmart in Bensenville, according to a news release from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin and Bensenville Chief of Police Frank Kosman.

Prosecutors would not release details about Bardlett's arrest because of the ongoing search for the other man involved in Saghir's killing, but during Bardlett's bond hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said Bardlett confessed to police and told them what he had done with the clothing he wore during the attempted robbery, according to media reports.

Bardlett served a boot camp sentence on a weapons charge in Cook County, prosecutors said. He was released from state prison on parole in July 2012, reports stated.

Late last week, the Bensenville Police Department announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest, prosecution and conviction of the people responsible for the fatal shooting. It is not yet clear if the reward played a role in the arrest.

There's also no indication whether police have information about the second suspect who appears in the store's surveillance video.

The video shows Saghir, 36, of Chicago, and another store employee exiting the store when they were confronted by two men. During a brief struggle, one of the men shot at Saghir before they both fled on foot east bound from the store. It's not clear if police believe Bardlett was the shooter.

Officers responded to the scene and found Saghir on the ground in front of the store. He was taken to the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Both offenders are described as black men, 17 to 22 years of age, 5 foot, 3 inches to 5 foot, 5 inches tall, clean shaven and between 130 to 150 pounds. The shooter was wearing a red or maroon hoodie with a white, large text Abercrombie logo on the left sleeve and blue jeans believed to be of the True Religion brand. The second offender was wearing a black hoodie with a front logo on it having a large, almost chest width rectangular, white background with black cursive-style writing on it believed to be a Mossimo logo.

A vehicle is observed on video leaving the drive at the east side of the building shortly thereafter. It is suspected that the offenders entered and fled in the van east bound from the scene. The van is believed to be a light colored, tan, beige, or silver/gray, 2001 to 2003 Ford Windstar.